Launch at least three forms of auto-triggered email marketing, such as shopping cart abandonment

Consider replacing some of your core catalogs with smaller, less-expensive brochure-like pieces intended to bring the brand top of mind and drive the customer to your web and retail channels of business

Concentrate on lapsed customers with multi purchases (vs. dollar spent) who have purchased at least 1x in each of the prior 2 yrs but who have not purchased in the last 12 months; test sending them a special mailing, ie: we miss you with an offer

Offer customers contact preferences for method and frequency- perhaps some customers only want the first catalog of each season

Find one way to leverage social media for your business- it comes in many forms!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Back in my days in Ecommerce at Eddie Bauer and RedEnvelope, success was so easy!! Clicks for major keywords cost, at most, $0.75; all of our reporting was purely cookie-based, without any understanding of how many of our web buyers were influenced by offline marketing. Our ad cost was 15% (or so we thought). It was fun- we were all rock stars.

Online marketers are just now feeling the pinch that direct mail marketers have been feeling for the last few years. As catalogers have battled rising costs across the board, online retailers are now faced with incredibly high costs, driven up by competition:

Cost per click for the keyword “gift baskets” - $3.00 (on a good day)Cost per click for the keyword “food gifts” - $1.80Affiliate revenue share for the shoe category- 25%Cost to send an 80-page catalog- $0.65

We also know that, depending on the retailer, 30% to 60% of the buyers from paid search and affiliates were first mailed a catalog.

Two scenarios:

$100,000 Spent on Non-Branded Paid Search$2 Cost per Click50,000 Clicks3% Conversion Rate$100 AOV$150,000 in Sales67% Ad Cost, not including the cost of any catalogs mailed to these buyers

Acquisition, in all forms (paid search, affiliates, catalog prospecting), is more expensive than ever in this economy. Two recommendations for your 09 planning:1) Housefile Reactivation, via email and direct mail2) Website initiatives to improve conversion rates- these efforts will improve the ROI of all marketing programs

Directly Speaking is written by the Growth Strategies Group, a division of Belardi/Ostroy

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The mission of the Growth Strategies Group is to drive sales and file growth as cost effectively as possible. Our focus is on delivering tangible and actionable value. This includes advanced analytics, strategic planning, circulation planning, and online marketing. We take a hands-on approach with all clients and enjoys diving into the challenges facing marketers today.